Macao’s gaming revenue in the second half of 2016 will drop from last year’s level at a slower pace, the special administrative region’s financial authorities said on Saturday.

A report issued by Macau’s Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance said the income of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) gaming industry in June reached 15.88 billion patacas (about US$ 1.99 billion), 8.5 per cent lower than the figure in the same period last year, and the first half of 2016 totaled 107.79 billion patacas, 11.4 per cent lower than the revenue in H1 2015.

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said the adjustment period of gaming industry will continue and the second half of 2016 will probably remain “negative increase”, but the momentum of decrease will slow down.

The report also revealed that the income generated by mass gaming areas accounted for 53.1 per cent, while the figure in the same period last year is 43.1 per cent.

The VIP rooms’ income dropped by 17.3 per cent for the H1 2016, while mass gaming areas’ income only dropped by 3.6 per cent. The report said it reflects the SAR government’s effort to diversify the gaming industry.

The SAR government said in its 2016 fiscal budget plan that the annual gaming income is targeted at 200 billion patacas. The first half of 2016’s 107.79 billion already reached 53.9 per cent of that target.